Oakland Genesis: Empowering Youth Through Soccer and Academic Success
Oakland Genesis is dedicated to empowering youth in Oakland through a transformative blend of soccer, academic support, and mentorship. This innovative nonprofit serves children aged 10 to 18, primarily from under-resourced neighborhoods where economic insecurity significantly impacts academic performance. With its multi-faceted approach, Oakland Genesis not only provides participants with the opportunity to play competitive soccer but also enriches their lives with essential educational resources and social-emotional development. By fostering a supportive community, the organization aims to help these young people build confidence, improve their academic outcomes, and cultivate a passion for lifelong learning.
Through targeted initiatives that include academic enrichment, personalized tutoring, and mentorship from community professionals, Oakland Genesis addresses the unique challenges faced by its participants. The organization recognizes that numerous barriers can impede access to educational and extracurricular activities, and it works to overcome these obstacles. This holistic approach not only promotes physical health through structured sports activities but also empowers youth to set and achieve their goals, leading to a brighter future filled with opportunities for academic and personal success.
Oakland Genesis recently received a Kars4Kids small grant to help fund and further enhance its programs and services. To learn more about this impactful youth development initiative, we spoke with Matt Fondy, Coach and Co-founder of Oakland Genesis. His insights shed light on the vital work being done to support local youth:
Kars4Kids: How would you describe your demographic? What can you tell us about the children you serve and your community?
Matt Fondy: The youth we serve live in under-resourced neighborhoods in Oakland with high levels of poverty. The economic insecurity our participants face has a direct link to low academic achievement. Within the Oakland Unified School District, less than a third of middle-schoolers read at or above their grade’s reading level or meet California’s standard for English and math. A large percentage speaks a language other than English, underperforms in STEM subjects, and would be first-generation college students. The population we support underperforms on standardized tests, reads at lower-than-average levels, has low grades, and suffers from low self-esteem in school.
Kars4Kids: Oakland Genesis uses soccer as a tool toward classroom and life success. Why soccer?
Matt Fondy: Soccer is the world’s game! It is a passport to the world and a beautiful mechanism to connect with people. And, as one of the most diverse cities and regions in the country, soccer is extremely popular among young people in Oakland. Youth are passionate about the game, see themselves practicing, learning, setting goals and achieving them — this same skill set can be applied to their academics.
Kars4Kids: Academic support is a pillar of what you offer at Oakland Genesis. What can you tell us about your academy program? Is it an afterschool study program? How does it work?
Matt Fondy: The Oakland Genesis Academy provides middle and high school students with a comprehensive range of academic, social-emotional, and extracurricular resources. We deploy a multifaceted program model consisting of team soccer, transportation, academic enrichment and tutoring, college and career counseling, and mentorship, to keep our Academy participants healthy, engaged, and motivated. The Academy begins working with Oakland youth in 6th grade, supports them through middle and high school, and guides them toward graduating high school with the confidence, emotional readiness, and self-esteem they need to be successful in college and their careers.
Currently, our Academy serves 225 students, ages 10 to 18, who play on ten competitive soccer teams. Each team is led by a soccer coach, an academic instructor who is focused on academic progress and achievement, tutors, and supervised mentors. The soccer and academic coaches facilitate two weekly sessions per team consisting of 75 minutes in the classroom followed by 90 minutes on the soccer field. Our participants spend over 400 hours annually in our Academy’s programming, with over 100 of those hours in the classroom.
Kars4Kids: Oakland Genesis Academy Teams play competitive soccer, but participation is based on “passion and commitment, not talent.” Some might wonder why anyone would play competitive sports without talent. Isn’t that kind of pointless and even kind of dangerous to the point of risking injury? Can you help us understand this philosophy in practical terms?
Matt Fondy: Kids are opting in to spend over 400 hours per year with us — over one hour per day on average. The kids who choose to participate, and sign up again season after season, are the kids who are passionate about playing. Of course, competitive sports are competitive. Some teams are playing at elite levels, which is not for everyone, while others are playing at a more recreational level. All players, however, can benefit from participating, whether in their physical health, their social emotional health, their academic achievement, and much more. Currently, according to surveys, 98% of program participants report having a “good” or “very good” time in the program and elect to continue.
Kars4Kids: Can you give us an overview of your mentoring program? How many mentors do you have? What do mentors and mentees do together, exactly?
Matt Fondy: A fundamental component of the Academy’s success is its mentorship initiative, which pairs students with caring adults from the community. As of February 2025, the Academy has paired 44 students with mentors. Our mentors include players from three local professional soccer teams — Oakland Roots, Oakland Soul, and the San Jose Earthquakes — as well as current players and alumni from the University of California, Berkeley Men’s and Women’s Soccer Teams.
Other mentors work as technologists in Silicon Valley and as scientists, engineers, and professionals in San Francisco’s financial sector. The program’s diverse mentors take youth on trips to professional soccer games, hikes, and their offices, exposing them to new experiences in the Bay Area. Our mentors provide guidance and support to our students in helping them set and achieve their goals. They instill confidence and self-esteem in their mentees by recognizing and nurturing their strengths while simultaneously holding them accountable for their actions and goals.
The continued presence of mentors in the lives of Academy students adds another layer of social-emotional support to our programming. Research shows that when children have relationships with at least three non-family adults, they are more likely to be engaged in their classes and more motivated to succeed academically.
Kars4Kids: Oakland Genesis makes a point of offering student athletes transportation to all events. What are the advantages of arranging transportation for the kids? Couldn’t they just take public transportation?
Matt Fondy: Transportation is a key pillar of the Academy program. Our model’s effectiveness relies on participants’ ability to attend both the academic and soccer training sessions multiple times a week. Transportation is a significant barrier for many of our students, who cannot get to and from practices, games and study sessions because their parents work after-school and weekend shifts. To eliminate this barrier, we provide players with safe and vetted transportation with our organization’s transit vehicles. Currently, over 50% of Oakland Genesis participants use the program’s transportation services regularly to attend the Academy’s programming.
Kars4Kids: What can you tell us about your impact? What percentage of your student athletes graduate from high school? Attend college?
Matt Fondy: Since its founding in 2019, Oakland Genesis has provided Oakland youth with a crucial outlet for enhancing their physical and social-emotional development, academic engagement and achievement, and overall quality of life. Each year, our organization serves more than 1,200 students across East Oakland, ranging in age from 8 to 18. Among these, 225 have enrolled in our Academy program. All Academy participants are BIPOC, with over 95% classified as low-income. Additionally, over 75% are first-generation children of immigrants, speak languages other than English at home, and over 50% require transportation assistance to regularly participate in our programs.
Our teams operate year-round and meet four days a week, surpassing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended levels of physical activity for youth under 18. Oakland Genesis participants attend workshops on the benefits of healthy eating and nutrition, and regular exercise, resulting in significant improvements in their physical health and fitness. Their progress starkly contrasts with the broader trends in physical health among Oakland’s youth, as previously described.
Our physical wellness achievements align closely with our participants’ advancements in social-emotional well-being and academic engagement. Players have formed trusting relationships with their coaches and mentors, as well as lasting friendships with one another, fostering a tight-knit and supportive community.
Since 2019, Oakland Genesis has made significant advancements in improving our participants’ grades, confidence in school, and interest in higher education. The average GPA of Academy participants remains above 3.3, compared to the Oakland average of below 2.7, reflecting notable improvements in mathematics and English language skills. 100% of our participants have graduated high school with college eligibility and have completed applications to higher learning—recent data shows only 50% of Oakland students graduating with college eligibility. We have also seen a profound increase in interest in higher education, with 96% of participants now indicating interest in college.
Oakland Genesis instructors monitor the academic progress of Academy participants through data collection and student surveys. Our assessment of participants’ academic progress focuses on three critical metrics: grades, core skill building, and academic engagement. To track academic progress, academic instructors collect student transcripts each term and evaluate core academic skills—reading, writing, and math—by reviewing grades, state exam scores, and results from internal subject assessment tests.
To assess academic engagement, academic instructors monitor attendance and conduct monthly surveys with students. These surveys help our academic instructors compile student engagement scores, based on attendance, goals, self-reported attitudes about their connectedness to the program, confidence level by subject, frequency of seeking support, engagement with coursework, and involvement in determining their plans after graduation.
These assessments provide a firsthand look at our program’s impact. Survey responses from our students suggest that program participants are showing an increased interest in attending college and are more willing to seek assistance from their mentors, teachers, and academic instructors. This indicates that they are becoming more comfortable in taking charge of their learning and asking for help from adults when they need it.
We understand that metrics are a limited measurement of achievement. Our definition of success is more comprehensive than grades or test scores. In addition to improving students’ academic outcomes, we seek to foster a lifestyle of physical activity and a culture of openness, kindness, and support among the youth we serve. This includes creating an environment where students are eager to participate in the program, comfortable setting and refining their goals, and confident in seeking help when they need it. We believe our programming aligns with this broader definition of success. According to participant surveys from 2023, 98% reported having a “good” or “very good” experience with Oakland Genesis, with over 95% choosing to continue after their first year, and many recommending the program to others. To us, success means students are continuing to engage with and opt into the program.
Our whole-child approach to success has fostered a sense of belonging and social well-being among Oakland youth that is deepening every day, and with every new child that joins the program.
Impact Story: Edy Chavez
Even before the pandemic upended life for Edy and his family, school was a challenge. The 13-year-old first-generation child of immigrants was frequently disheartened by his low grades and confusion in the classroom.
Edy’s parents, who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, exclusively spoke in Spanish at home, and Edy enrolled in English Language Development courses to catch up with his classmates. But he wasn’t making much progress. His grades fell in the months before lockdown, and his self-esteem suffered. “I am not smart enough for school,” he remarked to his soccer coaches in Spanish when he joined Oakland Genesis in 2019. Because Edy’s GPA hovered around 1.0, he was ineligible for the school’s soccer team, and he did not have the confidence to approach any of his teachers for help. He was lonely and demoralized.
Then the pandemic struck. Edy’s struggles deepened with the lockdown’s transition to remote learning and his increased distance from teachers and counselors. He had technical difficulties navigating the online platform where assignments were handed out and submitted. Around this time, Edy was spending more time in the Oakland Genesis Academy program, and he felt comfortable enough to confide in his coaches and mentors about his challenges.
In the spring of 2020, Oakland Genesis intervened, establishing a strategic plan with Edy to improve his performance in school and help him build back his confidence. From March 2020 to May 2021, Edy’s academic instructor met with him up to three times a week, one-on-one, to assist him with his schoolwork and help him navigate his school’s online homework platform. His academic instructor also prioritized fostering Edy’s self-confidence and his comfort in asking for help, offering feedback and strategies for approaching his teachers and advocating for himself.
Now, four years after struggling with online classes during the pandemic, Edy has transformed into a confident and assertive student. He routinely emails his instructors to ask for support or clarification on assignments. He knows where to look to practice the math problems that give him trouble or the English he doesn’t understand. After months of working with his instructor, Edy’s report card in the spring semester of 2021 showed all A’s and B’s, a level of achievement that has continued to this day. His confidence, self-esteem, and overall health have improved dramatically.
But that is not all that Oakland Genesis did to support and empower Edy. Even as he struggled in school, his love of soccer remained steadfast — it is likely the thing that kept him from falling into depression during the lockdown. He studies soccer tactics and watches individual players he would like to emulate. He watches the local professional team religiously and dreams of wearing its jersey as a star defender when he gets older.
In 2021, Edy’s coaches believed that pairing him with a mentor from Oakland’s local professional soccer team, the Oakland Roots, had the potential to significantly alter the course of Edy’s life. Tarek Morad, a starting defender, became that mentor, working with Edy to encourage him to channel his passion for sports into his education. Edy’s three caring adults worked diligently with him to transform his trajectory in school.
With support from Tarek, as well as Edy’s soccer coach and academic instructor, Edy practiced personal, soccer, and academic goal-setting exercises. Edy’s academic instructor’s one-on-one tutoring sessions and emphasis on thoughtful engagement helped him improve his participation in class and earn higher grades. Tarek also included incentives, like Oakland Roots jerseys and game tickets, to sweeten the deal.
Edy’s GPA goal now stands at 3.7, an astonishing turnaround from his 1.0 GPA when we met him in 2019. Today, Edy proudly wears his Roots jerseys constantly. He is more comfortable and active about communicating with his teachers and asking for tutoring from Oakland Genesis when he needs it. Getting a college education now accompanies his ambitious soccer goals—and he has turned into a very talented young soccer player.
In 2023, Edy reached an incredible milestone. After three and a half years of training with Oakland Genesis, a coach from an ECNL club—the highest level in the Bay Area youth soccer system—offered Edy the opportunity to play with their team. Edy went on trial with the club for a week and was asked to join on a scholarship, so his family would not have to pay. We are thrilled to watch Edy’s advancement to the Bay Area’s premier youth soccer league and will continue to support him wherever we can. We are in contact with his new coach and remain in touch with Edy and his family to remind them that we are a resource should he need it.
Still, even as a player on the ECNL club, Edy has not graduated from the Oakland Genesis network entirely. Beginning in 2022, Oakland Genesis started training and licensing youth referees in East Oakland, offering young players the opportunity to earn money and gain work experience. After completing seven hours of coursework and an in-person, all-day training, Edy received his referee certification in the spring of 2023 and was eventually honored by the league as the most active youth referee in the entire East Bay, completing more referee hours than any other youth referee in the region. Edy will continue to be a referee under Oakland Genesis’s tutelage in the future and he has recently expressed interest in coaching with us in our elementary school programs. Edy is becoming a model for how we would like program alumni to remain integrated with the program after their time with us.
We are so proud of Edy’s growth as we reflect on our time together. He is just one of the now 192 students enrolled in our Academy program. You can find more student success stories in our 2023 Impact Report. In it, you will find video testimonials from youth, as well as their parents and mentors, and hear about the impact of the Academy program on students’ lives. You will also hear from our high school graduates about how our college counseling gave them the edge they needed, and find an in-depth video illustrating a day in the life of our student-athletes.
Kars4Kids: Have any of your student athletes gone on to play soccer at college? Can you share a success story?
Matt Fondy: JULIO CORDOVA – Class of 2023
Merrit College – Engineering – Varsity Soccer
“I like Oakland Genesis because it really pushed me academically…They prepared me because their work ethic is to do your best and push yourself.” – Julio
Meet Julio, a shining star from our Oakland Genesis community. Originally set to work in his father’s auto shop after graduating high school in 2023, Julio’s path took an exciting turn when Oakland Genesis was able to connect him with Merritt College where he could pursue a degree in engineering to help his father’s business – and to play on Merritt’s varsity soccer squad! Julio has told us he wouldn’t have pursued this journey without Oakland Genesis’ guidance and encouragement. We could not be happier for him!
“I would say to any younger audience that anything is possible.” – Julio
Kars4Kids: Tell us about the OGSC badge. What inspired its design and how do your student athletes earn this badge?
Matt Fondy: The black-crowned night heron is the official bird of Oakland. On our crest, you can see that the heron is flying upward, a symbol for the trajectory of the young lives of our participants.
Kars4Kids: What’s next for Oakland Genesis?
Matt Fondy: Our whole-child approach to success has fostered a sense of belonging and social well-being among Oakland youth that is deepening every day, and with every new child that joins the program. We intend to grow our program in Oakland, adding more boys and girls teams until every Oakland youth who would like to play team soccer can do so.
